Shay Gestal and Xenia Dunford performed November 15 on the Arts Riot stage for a live radio and streaming broadcast of Big Heavy World’s ‘Rocket Shop’ local music radio hour on 105.9FM The Radiator. The RETN production crew was there: The television premier of the show is December 15, 9:00pm on RETN Channel 16 and on BTVHD Channel 216 at 9:30 PM.

RETN is also distributing the show over the Vermont Media Exchange for statewide cable TV distribution — request your local public, educational, or government cable television station to broadcast it in your area!

Rocket Shop Live is a special version of the weekly Rocket Shop radio program — once each month the artist guests appear on the Arts Riot stage for extended free, all ages public performances. The concerts are made possible by co-hosts Big Heavy World and Arts Riot and media sponsor RETN, with support from the BCA Community Fund.

‘Indie Kingdom’ prepares a new generation of storytellers and reporters to develop and share local stories using the tools of the trade, both traditional and new while earning secondary credit. WGDR and Goddard College have partnered with Big Heavy World to expand this program to Chittenden County, bringing a new storytelling skills-building experience to high schools in the region. The position below is central to the project, supported in great part by the Vermont Community Foundation.

If interested in applying, please submit a cover letter, resume, a sample of audio work and three employment references to Big Heavy World, P.O. Box 428, Burlington, VT 05402-0428 or via email to info@bigheavyworld.com. Big Heavy World provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics.

Basic Function

The Indie Kingdom Youth Radio Program Coordinator and Educator offers professional guidance to teacher-partners in customizing and integrating Indie Kingdom into their pedagogical goals and state/school mandated curriculum. This position works with partnering schools to help their students learn about, create, and broadcast high-quality audio story recordings of stories from their communities using the Indie Kingdom Youth Radio Program Curriculum, and the curriculum of their classroom teachers.

The 10-15 hours per week position, reports directly to the Executive Director of Big Heavy World. The position stewards planning and development for Indie Kingdom with partnering schools and related institutions, alongside the Executive Director of Big Heavy World. The position is heavily focused on teaching and administrative management of the Indie Kingdom Youth Radio Training Program curriculum.

The Vermont Historical Society and the Vermont Humanities Council with VTDigger have teamed up to produce a podcast called ‘Before Your Time,’ and the December 6 episode is all about music in Vermont. Producer Ryan Newswanger — Director of Communications at the Vermont Humanities Council — interviewed James Lockridge from Big Heavy World along with Linda Radtke, Mark Greenberg, and others to explore topics like the Helen Hartness Flanders Collection, kitchen tunkets, and how music travels and changes.

For each episode, the podcast team goes inside the stacks at the Vermont Historical Society to “look at an object from their permanent collection that tells us something unique about our state. Then, we take a closer look at the people, the events, or the ideas that surround each artifact.” A carving of a kitchen tunket by Napoleon DeGuise, a barber and carver, was the starting point. Music from Big Heavy World’s ‘Thrufters and Throughstones‘ double-CD was used — the album features music found in Vermont over the past 400 years.

Press Release by Big Heavy World. Photo by James Lockridge.

New technology available to the community thanks to local collaboration.

A collaboration of two tech-heavy local organizations has brought a new resource to Burlington’s arts community: Live streaming of ‘virtual reality’ video. The technology is used to send a live stream of 360-degree video — a video feed that viewers can view as though they are inside a room, able to rotate and look in every direction.

The equipment was purchased by Burlington Telecom for community use, an acquisition proposed and encouraged by Big Heavy World. “Emerging technologies are an especially useful platform for promoting Vermont-made music,” said James Lockridge, Executive Director of Big Heavy World, “This will bring entirely new audiences to the music of Vermont, and to Burlington as an innovative tech community.”

The equipment used to live-stream 3D video uses an array of several cameras and an attached computer that stitches the images from each camera together, then encodes the stitched content in real-time for streaming. The stream can be sent to popular sites like Facebook or YouTube, and can be viewed on a normal computer screen or with a virtual reality headset.

On Wednesday, December 6, Big Heavy World will host its weekly local music radio show “Rocket Shop’ from the stage of co-presenter Arts Riot on Pine Street in Burlington, featuring the bands Full Walrus and Blowtorch. The free all-ages concert will be streamed in 360-degree video through the Big Heavy World YouTube page, broadcast live on 105.9FM The Radiator, recorded for television broadcast by media partner RETN, streamed with normal video through Facebook, and recorded for a future live album. Doors open at 7:15pm; music and streaming begins at 7:45pm. Arts Riot is located at 400 Pine Street in Burlington and is wheelchair accessible. More information about the concert can be found at https://www.facebook.com/events/371417126650087/ and the Big Heavy World Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/bigheavyworld/

“Our fiber gigabit infrastructure makes Burlington one of the most connected cities in the country. As a community, we have barely begun to scratch the surface in terms of exploring it’s capabilities.” said Abbie Tykocki, Director of Marketing & PR at Burlington Telecom, “Community partnerships that allow us to showcase both Burlington and the power of ultra-high speed symmetrical broadband work to bring that narrative forward while helping local organizations reach their full potential. Big Heavy World has been a longtime advocate for the potential of the network as a tool for civic engagement. Their work embraces the value of leveraging Vermont artistry to promote Burlington as a vibrant and innovative community.”

The event will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the founding of 105.9FM The Radiator, the community radio station co-founded and operated by Big Heavy World. ‘Rocket Shop’ is supported in part by the BCA Community Fund.

About Big Heavy World: Big Heavy World is an independent nonprofit music development office working to archive and promote the original music of Vermont. Its volunteers publish information about Vermont’s music industry, archive thousands of Vermont-made recordings and photographs, and operate 105.9FM, a radio station highlighting the region’s creative community. bigheavyworld.com

About Burlington Telecom: Burlington Telecom’s mission is to provide every customer with an exceptional service experience that you can only expect to receive from a local business, while providing you with access to the benefits of the most advanced fiber optic network in the US. For more information about Burlington Telecom services, visit www.burlingtontelecom.com or call (802) 540-0007.

Words and poster by Big Heavy World.

Rocket Shop is Big Heavy World’s local music radio hour, every Wednesday 8-9pm on 105.9FM The Radiator. Local musicians come share your big events and perform on the radio! Your music is welcome in the VT Music Archive and in rotation on the station, too. See bigheavyworld.com/rocketshop/ or email info@bigheavyworld.com

Words and poster by Big Heavy World.

Be a voice for what you care about — music, talk, poetry, current events, and drama are all options on The Radiator. Come own the mic! Be a programmer or help Big Heavy World manage a community radio station; learn what it takes to give the power of broadcast media to the people. All are welcome at all times. Special Wednesday training and radio slot for women and non-binary identifIers to participate with solidarity. All languages welcome. Big Heavy World is located at 404 Pine Street in Burlington and is wheelchair accessible. Contact info@bigheavyworld.com